I would like to introduce you to two of my favorite honey bee entrepreneurs: both of these women are not only beekeepers, but are also mentors, educators, and stewards of the environment. ​

Hillary Kearney of San Diego, California says, Girl Next Door Honey isn’t your typical honey business; we want to reach out to the community on every level. We offer raw, natural, uber local honey, beekeeping classes and workshops, one-on-one consulting, a host-a-hive program, kid’s bee presentations and we perform live bee removals. So whether you’re a foodie, aspiring beekeeper, concerned bee supporter or just wanting to have a beehive in your yard we’ve got you covered...Our goal is to raise San Diego’s bee population throughout the city and at the same time spread awareness among the community. Our hope is that these backyard hives will facilitate a dialogue among neighbors, friends, family and the community at large about the importance of bees. We like to think of it as pollinating hearts and minds." Hillary also hosts the Beekeeping Like a Girl blog.

Gracing the cover of Eating Well

Educational game for Kids

The above images are from Girl Next Door Honey website

​The Bee Girl Organization "is a nonprofit with a mission to inspire and empower communities to conserve bees, their flowers, and our food system."

"TheBee Girl, founded by Sarah Red-Laird, aims to conserve our bees by educating the public on their importance through our programs focused on community classes and events, public lectures, our Kids and Bees program. The Bee Girl organization also facilitates the Farming for Bees initiative, empowering and recognizing land managers who provide habitat for our bees. Bee Girl engages with communities across the nation, and the globe, spreading knowledge and bringing a sense of wonder from the hive to the people" (Bee Girl Mission statement).

Sarah says, “If you can capture the heart and imagination of a child, and release the sweetness and light of the honeybee in them- they will never forget it. By saving the bee, they will save our world.”The Bee Girl is based in Ashland, Oregon, but travels widely to spread the buzz.

Did you know that almost 90% of all flowering plants rely on animals, rather than the wind, for pollination? Over 200,000 species of animals act as pollinators. The vast majority of animal pollinators are insects such as beetles, bees, ants, wasps, butterflies and moths; of these, bees pollinate the largest number of plant species. About 1,000 species of pollinators are hummingbirds, bats and other small mammals (Pollinator Partnership, 2017).

It is definitely SPRING, which means I am outside playing in my garden (rather than sitting in front of my computer). There is a lot of action in the news regarding the use of GMOs and glyphosate/Round-up, calling Monsanto on their shenanigans, scuttling the DARK act, and a call to (get ready for this) ban the use of toxic fracking wastewater in organic food production... what, are you serious? ONLY on organic foods (wait-currently, someone is growing organic food with fracking wastewater? Holy S**T batman)

In case you missed this headline, here it is:Seattle seeks millions from Monsanto to clean up PCBs from DuwamishThe Seattle Times reports: The city of Seattle is suing to make Monsanto pay for cleanup of toxic PCBs from the city’s drainage system and the Duwamish River.

Monsanto was the sole producer of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) for commercial use in the U.S. from 1935 to 1977, and continued to profit from their sale for years even as its officials knew the chemicals were polluting the environment, causing harm to people and wildlife, said Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes.

“When the profit motive overtakes concern for the environment, this is the kind of disaster that happens,” Holmes said Tuesday. “I’m proud to hold Monsanto accountable.”Seattle is the sixth major city in the West to seek cleanup damages from the company, joining San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley, San Diego and Spokane, which Holmes said gave him the idea to file the federal lawsuit.

Documents uncovered in the Spokane case revealed the company’s own medical department warned in 1955 that the chemicals were so toxic, by either ingestion or inhalation, that employees making PCBs could be harmed just from eating lunches contaminated from the chemical fumes or residue on workers’ hands.

Named as plaintiffs in the suit are Monsanto Company, plus Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corp., which were spun off through a series of reorganizations of the company. The suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle.

Monsanto on Tuesday denied responsibility for the pollution. Read the full story here.

Feb. 2017 UPDATE from Seattle Times:A federal judge has refused to dismiss a lawsuit filed last year by the city of Seattle against Monsanto to make the company pay for the cleanup of toxic PCBs from the city’s drainage system and the Duwamish River.

U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik, in denying Monsanto’s motion to dismiss the case, said the city’s claim “plausibly alleges that Monsanto knew that its chemical products were toxic, yet chose not to modify its toxic chemical products, or to warn of their toxicity, in order to maximize its profits.”

The lawsuit now proceeds to discovery. A tentative trial date is set in April 2018.

Hmmmm. Monsanto denied responsibility? Again?

Organic Consumers Association reports:The Gates Foundation is taking their newest show on the road with a $5.6 million propaganda campaign and a goal to "depolarize the charged debate" about GMOs. You do not have to scratch very deep into the Gates/Cornell so-called 'Alliance for Science' to see that this is an aggressive propaganda tool for corporate biotech and agribusiness (Shame-on-you Cornell).

GMOs to end world hunger? I think not...Proponents of GM crops tell us that we need genetic modification to feed a growing population and reduce world hunger. However there is not a single study that proves GMOs have helped “feed the world.” Here are 5 facts, gathered by Canadian crusader Rachel Parent, that prove this statement is purely a marketing claim used by agrochemical companies to sell more patented seeds and chemicals.Monsanto, Bill Gates, Cargill...go ahead, connect the dots for yourself. And don't forget: buy organic.

Popcorn's Dirty Secret" won the 2015 Digital Edge award!It’s no secret we love popcorn. We Americans consume more than 16 billion quarts of popcorn each year. But we’re getting more than we bargained for in all those bowls of popcorn: bee-toxic pesticides.

Bees are dying at alarming rates, and scientists have identified a group of insecticides called neonicotinoids (“neonics”) as a prime culprit in these drastic population losses. The largest single use of neonicotinoids is as a seed coating for field crops (like corn, soy, canola, and wheat). In fact, researchers estimate that 95-99% of all field corn grown in the U.S. comes from seed coated with bee-toxic neonic chemicals.

Neonics are the most widely used insecticides in the world. What makes them different from most pesticides is that they are systemic chemicals, meaning they are dispersed throughout the treated plant, rendering the whole plant toxic. Just as alarming, neonics are shown to last in the environment for years, harming species that the chemical was not designed to kill – like bees, butterflies, birds, and other helpful insects.

Unfortunately, the popcorn industry uses bee-killing chemicals on their seeds, too. That’s why we’re calling on Pop Secret, one of the biggest brands in the industry, to urge them to source their popcorn from seeds that are NOT coated in these harmful chemicals.

Given the countless risks, lack of benefits, and widespread consumer demand for pollinator protection, it’s time for Pop Secret to join Pop Weaver and commit to phasing out the use of neonic-coated seeds for their popcorn. Mythbusting and True Cost

In following the Climate Talks in Paris, I came across this UK site Brandalism.

From their website:"Brandalism has shared skills and techniques for 'subvertising' - the art of subverting advertisements. We start from the democratic conviction that the street is a site of communication, which belongs to the citizens and communities who live there. Our interventions are a rebellion against the visual assault of media giants and advertising moguls who have a stranglehold over messages and meaning in our public spaces, through which they force-feed us with images and messages to keep us insecure, unhappy, and shopping."

Frankenfish Fraud FestOn November 2, 2015, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first genetically modified food animal—an Atlantic salmon that grows twice as fast as natural salmon, thanks to the insertion of genes from Chinook salmon and eelpout (an eel-like fish).

This approval is so wrong, on so many levels, that it’s hard to know where to start.For one, the FDA regulates GMO salmon as a drug, not a food—"because the recombinant DNA (rDNA) construct introduced into the animal meets the definition of a drug."

If that’s the case, you would think this new “drug” should be labeled. But it won’t be, because out of the other side of the FDA’s mouth, the agency has declared GMO salmon to be nutritionally equivalent to conventional farm-raised Atlantic salmon. (REALLY?)

As this article on Mercola.com says:In the eyes of the FDA, it's a perfectly normal fish, but it's also a drug, but since it's a fish that is comparable to other fish, it doesn't need to be labeled, even though all drugs typically need to be labeled...

But of course the new frankenfish is not nutritionally equivalent to farmed salmon. Worse yet, the FDA approved GMO salmonon the basis of flawed studies, none of which included long-term safety testing to prove genetically engineered salmon is safe for human consumption.

********************************The "at least not everyone has a death wish" News:Many are fighting the good fight on this issue, and most major food retailers, including Trader Joe’s, Aldi, Whole Foods, Kroger, Costco, Safeway, and Giant Eagle have announced they will not stock GE salmon. (Interestingly, AquaBounty, who is owned by the synthetic biology firm Intrexon, recently purchased the patent for Okanagan's GM non-browning apple too.) Hmm.

Author

Tracey Byrne~I spent most of the 1980s and 90s in Alaskaflying airplanes, floating wild rivers, winter camping, raising a wild child, and living off the grid :^)

With my MAT in Advanced Inquiry for Biological Sciences, I've taught K-12 students from north of the Arctic Circle to the Puget Sound Ecoregion, garnering over thirty years experience as a classroom teacher, learning mentor, and private tutor.

Here in Seattle, I am an advocate for environmental stewardship, place-based education, and outdoor play. I share my enthusiasm for birds, bugs, and backyards as a writer/photographer for Pacific Horticulture.